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HELP SUPPORT REQUESTS TO EXTEND COMMENT DEADLINE FOR US FOREST SERVICE PLANNING RULE

April 26, 2011 6:00 AM

BLUERIBBON COALITION NATIONAL ACTION ALERT
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED
HELP SUPPORT REQUESTS TO EXTEND COMMENT DEADLINE FOR US FOREST SERVICE PLANNING RULE

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,

BRC, along with multiple-use stakeholders, local governments and numerous recreational advocacy organizations, has asked the Department of Agriculture to provide an additional 90 days to review and comment on the Draft Planning Rule for the U.S. Forest Service.

The new planning regulations are extremely complex and include new, untested provisions for habitat planning and monitoring. In addition, the agency has, sadly, chosen to emphasize preservation over multiple use and recreation. BRC is working with a wide range of stakeholders in efforts to bring the agency back to its multiple use mandate and the groups have collectively requested an extension of the comment period. Read the letter HERE.

We need your help.

Please help us by sending a quick message to Harris Sherman, USDA Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment in support of our extension request.

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible recreation, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. With members in all 50 states, BRC is focused on building enthusiast involvement with organizational efforts through membership, outreach, education, and collaboration among recreationists. 1-800-BlueRib - www.sharetrails.org
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The Grand County Council has identified over 100 miles of road closures in its proposed Public Lands Initiative (PLI) plan to be submitted to Representative Rob Bishop. This proposal is scheduled to be voted on by the end of the month, so it is imperative for you to take action today! Utah's Grand County, home to Moab's world class OHV trails, has been participating in Congressman Rob Bishop's Public Lands Initiative, a plan to resolve some of Utah's most contentious public lands issues, including Wilderness and OHV use.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Las Vegas area is currently fronting a draft plan that could eliminate or greatly restrict both casual and event-based OHV recreation on approximately 3 million areas in Southern Nevada. The draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) creates an unjustified risk that might preclude "dry washes" from being designated as OHV routes. The elimination of dry or sand washes from subsequent project level travel management plans could functionally close the desert if they are not capable of being designated as routes, because motorized travel would be "limited to designated roads and trails."

The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) will host an open house to discuss Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on designated routes within the Lake Tahoe Basin on Thursday, April 2, 2015, from 4 to 7 p.m., at the Forest Supervisor's office at 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150. The open house provides an opportunity for the public to meet Forest Service OHV, engineering, trails and recreation